Adonis Diaries

Testimonials 30 years after a civil war: Return of General Michel Aoun 

The issue May 8, 2005 of daily Al Balad

 In this day, General Michel Aoun returned to Lebanon from 15 years of exile, spent mostly in France.  Aoun had promised to return home after the Syrian troops officially withdrawal from all Lebanese territories, and before the Parliamentary election so that he could be involved in that process on the ground. 

Aoun told the 350 thousand citizens gathered at the Martyrs’ Square: “Lebanon is freed. If I ever use any confessional (sectarian) language I’ll ask you to dismiss me.  We are ready to fight the political money that brought Lebanon to bankruptcy, and we will prosecute any responsible proved to be part of these grand thefts.” 

400 cars and buses flocked from the Christian villages around East Sidon to welcome their leader and emancipator from the Syrian hegemony.  People converged from Byblos, Haret Hrike, Dir Kamar, Zahle, Ashkut, Ajaltun, from the North, South, Mount Lebanon and the Bekaa valley.

General Aoun once said that any solution to succeed and to last needs the simultaneous agreement and approval of Lebanon, Syria, and Israel for the resolution of any problem between two of these countries. General Aoun also stated that Lebanon is too big to be swallowed and too small to be divided.

The supporters of the General freedom movement (Tayyar Taghyir wa Islah) constantly update their slogans, songs and symbols.  They used to rely on military songs such as “Only you soldiers of Lebanon” and “Throw flowers, the soldiers have arrived”  then adopted our famous singer Mageda Rumy songs such as “Resist your encirclement” and “I swear to God”. The Movement moved on to liking a few leftist songs such as “I am coming back to the disinherited people”. 

The  favorite poets of the sympatizers are: Said Akl, Maurice Awad and father Simon Assaf.  They adopted the Omega symbol for resistance, enclosing the cedar tree and they are planning on removing all the pictures of the General in military attire to be replaced by civilian garment pictures.